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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 6833710" data-attributes="member: 2209">Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix III<a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17524/Monstrous-Compendium--Ravenloft-Appendix-III-2e?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix III</a>2eAkikage, Shadow Ninja: The akikage (ah-ki-ka-gee), or shadow ninja, is the spirit of an oriental assassin who died while stalking an important victim. In life, the akikage was obsessed with duty and discipline. Boneless: Boneless are without doubt the most foul result of all dark inquiries into necromancy. Created out of corpses from which the bones have been stripped, these mindless creatures exist only to execute the commands of their creator. These creatures are the result of dark experiments conducted by the wizard Faylorn while staying as a guest of the lich lord Azalin at his keep in Darkon. He found that, under the right conditions, he could animate the bones and body of a corpse quite independently. Since that time, Faylorn’s methodology has spread and others have learned how to create these foul things. Boneless have no role in nature and are purely the result of dark magic. It is said that the magic by which they are created is similar in many ways to the well-known animate dead spell, but that its material components are somewhat different. There is much evidence to support the belief that this spell functions only within on the Demiplane of Dread.Cat Skeletal: Skeletal cats are the ambulatory remains of pets who have clawed their way back from the grave to avenge themselves upon masters who treated them poorly or ended their lives. It can scarce be argued that cats are the most noble and majestic of household pets. When one of these stately creatures suffers and dies from the abuse of a cruel master, it sometimes returns in the form of a skeletal cat. Cloaker Undead: The undead cloaker is a foul and dangerous creature that is believed to be the earthly remains of a resplendent cloaker that has had its life drained away by the living dead. Corpse Candle: The corpse candle is the undead spirit of a murdered man or woman that coerces the living into bringing its killer to justice. Familiar Undead: An undead familiar is a sinister being that is created whenever a wizard is directly responsible for the death of his own familiar. By betraying the mystical bonds that link the spellcaster to his companion, the wizard brings into existence a vile creature that seeks only to destroy him. Geist: A geist is created when a person dies traumatically. Usually there is some deed left undone or some penance to be paid. The spirit of the person refuses to leave the plane (or demiplane) on which he died, becoming a geist instead. Geist Greater: ?Ghost Animal: Animal ghosts are the spirits of woodland creatures that died under some unusual circumstance. In the case of pets, they may have been killed while attempting to serve their masters. For wild beasts, it may be that they died while in a panic or other emotionally charged state. Ghost Animal Bear: ?Ghost Animal Boar Wild: ?Ghost Animal Horse Wild: ?Ghost Animal Lion Mountain: ?Ghost Animal Stag: ?Ghost Animal Wolf: ?Hag Spectral: A spectral hag is the undead spirit of a hag who died during an evil ceremony. Hag Spectral Annis: ?Hag Spectral : ?Hag Spectral : ?Hound Phantom: A phantom hound is a dog so devoted to its former master that it returns after its death to guard that master’s property or final resting place. First noted in Sanguinia, a phantom hound is always some very large dog such as a mastiff, wolfhound, or Great Dane. Due to the corrupting influences of the Demiplane of Dread, the faithful canine is transformed into a terrifying, coal black creature with spectral eyes that glow a deep green. Hound Skeletal: Skeletal hounds are the magically animated skeletons of dogs created as guardians by evil wizards or priests. Originally created by Spelaka of Mordent, a reclusive necromancer, the creatures appear to have no ligaments, muscles, or joinings that would hold their bones together and allow movement, They lack internal organs, flesh, and eyes. They are given the semblance of life and held together by the magic of an animate dead spell. Animate Dead spell.Jolly Roger: A jolly roger is the undead spirit of a pirate or buccaneer who died at sea. These foul creatures were usually captains or officers while living, and retain their taste for command after death. Jolly rogers are evil, undead creatures native to the demiplane of Ravenloft. For some reason, they are tied to that region and are never encountered elsewhere. Lich Defiler: In life, defiler liches were spellcasters of great power who learned to garner their magical energies from the very land around them. No one seems to know where the first defiler lich came from. With the many gapes and portals existing in the demiplane, it is most likely that the foul things came from some other place far removed from Ravenloft. Rumors abound that the world of their origin was blasted into desert by their ilk, but thus far no proof has been offered of this theory. Defiler liches gain their status in the same way that other liches do. This includes the construction of a phylactery and its enchantment. Demi-Defiler: ?Lich Drow: Both drow and drider liches are created in the same manner as their human cousins, including the creation and enchantment of a phylactery. Lich Drow Drider: A very few driders have escaped to continue their studies, and perhaps even to seek revenge on those who twisted their bodies into their present state. Of these, a few have eventually pursued their black arts into the realm of lichdom. Driders are the forlorn of Lolth. Years ago these pathetic wretches failed the cruel tests of their spider goddess and were sentenced to a lifetime of suffering in the miserable half-form of spider and drow. A few of these creature’s fates were tragic enough to attract the attentions of the Demiplane of Dread, and there the pitiful driders found a home. A very few of these continued in their magical research and eventually mastered the magics that made them liches. Both drow and drider liches are created in the same manner as their human cousins, including the creation and enchantment of a phylactery. Lich Drow Wizard: ?Lich Drow Priestess: Devout followers of the drow spider-goddess, Lolth, are sometimes rewarded with immortality through the transformation into lichdom. Demilich Drow: Wizard and priest drow may become demiliches in the usual manner. Lich Elemental: Elemental liches are diabolical wizards who studied and mastered the use of Ravenloft’s strange elements before or during their undeath. An elemental lich’s phylactery must first be buried in a nearby grave. Then a great fire of burning bones is ignited on that spot. Blood is then poured over the ashes and allowed to soak into the ground. If the elemental powers decide to grant the lich its powers, the mists of the demiplane will roll in and obscure the site from prying eyes. Demi-Elemental Lich: ?Lich Psionic: There are few who dare to argue that the power of a master psionicist is any less than that of an archmage. Proof of this can be found in the fact that the most powerful psionicists are actually able to extend their lives beyond the spans granted them by nature, just as powerful wizards are known to do. Psionic liches are powerful espers who have left behind the physical demands of life in pursuit of ultimate mental powers. Although the power that transformed them is natural (not supernatural, as it is with other liches), the extent to which psionic liches have pursued their goals is not natural. By twisting the powers of their minds to extend their existence beyond the bounds of mortal life, psionic liches become exiles. Cast out from the land of the living, these creatures sometimes lament the foolishness that led them down the dark path of the undead. By far the most important aspect of the existence of the psionic lich is the creation of its phylactery. To understand this mystical device, it is important to understand the process by which a psionicist becomes a lich. Before a psionicist can cross over into the darkness that is undeath, he must attain at least 18th level. In addition, he must be possessed of a great array of powers that can be bent and focused in ways new to the character.The first step in the creation of a phylactery is the crafting of the physical object that will become the creature’s spiritual resting place. Phylacteries come in all shapes, from rings to crowns, and from swords to idols. They are made from only the finest materials and must be fashioned by master craftsmen. Generally, a phylactery is fashioned in a shape that reflects the personality of the psionicist. The cost of creating a phylactery is 5,000 gp per level of the character. Thus, a 20th level psionicist must spend 100,000 gp on his artifact. Once the phylactery is fashioned, it must be readied to receive the psionicist’s life force. This is generally done by means of the metapsionic empower ability, with some subtle changes in the way the psionicist uses the power that alters its outcome. In order to complete the phylactery, the psionicist must empower it with each and every psionic ability that he possesses. lthough an object cannot normally be empowered with psychic abilities in more than one discipline, the unusual nature of the phylactery allows this rule to be broken. However, before “opening” a new discipline within the object, the would-be lich must transfer all of his powers from the first discipline into it. For exampie, if a character has telepathic and metapsionic abilities, he must complete the empowering of all of his telepathic powers before he begins to infuse the object with his metapsionic ones. Once a discipline is closed it cannot be reopened. During the creation of the phylactery, the psionicist is very vulnerable to attack. Each time that he gives his phylactery a new power, he loses it himself. Thus, the process strips away the powers of the psionicist as it continues. Obviously, the last power that is transferred into the phylactery is the empower ability. The effort of placing this ability within the phylactery drains the last essences of the psionicist’s life from him and completes his transformation into a psionic lich. At the moment that the transformation takes place the character must make a system shock survival roll. Failure indicates that his willpower was not strong enough to survive the trauma of becoming undead; his spirit breaks up and dissipates, making him forever dead. Only the powers of a deity are strong enough to revive a character who has died in this way; even a wish will not suffice. Odem: Vicious or murderous characters of great willpower may become odems when they die. Radiant Spirit: A radiant spirit is the ghost of a powerful paladin or lawful good cleric killed while pursuing a holy cause. The anguish that fills his heart traps his spirit on the demiplane and taunts him with the failure of his quest. A priest or paladin who dies while pursuing a just cause may rise as a radiant spirit 2-8 (2d4) months after his death. In order for a radiant spirit to be formed, however, the quest that the character was on must be one of extreme importance. As a rule, the failure of this mission must result in something as terrible as the utter collapse of the character’s church. Remnant Aquatic: Remnants are the spirits of humans and humanoids whose former bodies have been thrown into an unconsecrated, watery grave after they have died of acute stress and exhaustion. The callous way in which they have been disposed of after a torturous and miserable life leaves them in a state of such sorrow that they cannot completely leave the material world behind, and they lurk in the pools and rivers where their bodies were abandoned. Rushlight: Rushlights are formed when an evil being is burned alive on a funeral pyre. The soul flees the smoldering shell and attempts to escape into the night. Before the spirit can break free of its earthly bonds, it merges with the all-consuming fires and acquires their power. Skeleton Archer: Archer skeletons are magically animated humanoid undead monsters created as guardians or warriors by powerful evil wizards and priests. Such creatures are crafted from the bones of dead archers using an animate dead spell. The creator must also bond a blooded arrowhead to the skull of each skeleton. During the animation process the arrowhead fuses with the skeleton’s skull. Archer skeletons are said to have first been created by a zealous necromancer named Karakin. Karakin wished to murder all the people of his land so that he would be the only human living there. Once this was accomplished, Karakin would surround himself with undead courtiers far more loyal than any living vassals. Creating a vast army of archer skeletons and other undead, Karakin prepared to march, but the sheer force of his malice proved virulent enough to carry him instead through the mists and into Ravenloft. Where Karakin resides now is unknown, but his skeletal archers and the secret of their construction have come into the hands of a growing number of nefarious individuals. Skeleton Insectiod: These nightmarish automatons are the animated exoskeletons of dead insects. Evil priests and wizards, bent on manipulating nature for their own nefarious purposes, create these chitinous monstrosities with animate dead spells in a process almost identical to that used in the creation of normal skeletons.Insectoid skeletons are created with the use of a special version of the animate dead spell. It is believed that this spell was created by a drow necromancer, but the truth of that supposition is unknown. Skeleton Insectiod Giant Ant: ?Skeleton Insectiod Giant Tick: ?Skeleton Insectiod Stag Beetle: ?Skeleton Strahd: Strahd skeletons are magically animated undead monsters, created as guardians or warriors by Count Strahd Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of Barovia. Only Strahd Von Zarovich knows the arcane ritual that brings about their creation. For raw material, he requires human skeletons that still include the skull and 90% of the bones. What other foul components might be required are known only to the dread master of Ravenloft.Spirit Psionic: Two theories exist as to the origin of psionic spirits. The first states that such monsters are actually psionicists who somehow become trapped within their shadow form. Eventually the torment of their hideous half-existence drives such individuals into madness, evil, and at the last into the arms of the Dark Powers, who grant the psionicist its ghostly form. The second theory simply asserts that psionic spirits were once evil psionicists who suffered a violent death while using their mental powers. Somehow the spirits of such psionicists remain in the world in the form of psionic ghosts.Vampire Drow: ?Vampire Nosferatu: Those who die from the nosferatu’s bloody kiss rise again as half-strength creatures subject to the will of their creator. Vampire Oriental: Any human slain by the life draining attack of an oriental vampire is doomed to become such a creature himself. The victim rises the night after burial, a powerful pawn to its evil creator. If the victim is never buried, he will not become a vampire. This is the reason it is traditional to cremate the bodies of those suspected to have lost their lives to a vampire. Zombie Cannibal: Anyone bitten by a cannibal zombie must make a saving throw vs. poison. Success indicates that the creature’s poisonous saliva has had no effect. Failure means that the victim will soon become a new cannibal zombie himself unless a cure disease spell is cast upon him quickly. Within 2-8 (2d4) rounds after failing the saving throw the victim begins to feel a gnawing hunger. Every other round thereafter the victim must make a Constitution check. When this check fails, the victim is killed by the fast-acting poison in his veins and moves to join his new brethren in attacking the fully living. Once this happens, a cure disease spell will have no effect on the new zombie. A slow poison spell will retard the poison’s onset, but this only delays the inevitable.It is not known how cannibal zombies first came into existence. Zombie Desert: Desert zombies are animated corpses controlled by their creator, the evil mummy Senment. In recent years, rumors have arisen that other powerful spellcasters in the domain of Har’Akir have begun to create these things, but this has yet to be proven. The greater mummy, Senmet, created the first desert zombies. He sacrificed all of his spell casting power to be able to create and control an army of these nightmares, as well as to take limited control over the domain of Har’Akir. Any character who dies from the disease transmitted by the touch of the greater mummy becomes a desert zombie. It takes a full day after death for the corpse to animate. If the body is destroyed during that time, it will not be animated. Zombie Strahd: Strahd zombies are a unique form of undead created only by Count Strahd Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of Barovia. They are created with an arcane formula known only to Strahd Von Zarovich. He can create them only from the dead bodies of humans.Zombie Wolf: Zombie Wolves are not created by a wizard or a priest, but are a creation of the domain of Forlorn itself. Zombie wolves rise from the dead when the body of any regular wolf in the domain of Forlorn is not decapitated after it is killed. If this gruesome task is not carried out, the corpse of the wolf rises as a zombie 2d8 days after it has died.It is generally thought that the creatures gain this strange form of existence from contact with the land itself, which channels energy from the Negative Material Plane. Some sages speculate that simply preventing the wolf carcass from having any contact with the ground for a full eight days will prevent it from rising as a zombie, but in the absence of any practical application of this theory, it remains unproven.Ghoul: If the mage is slain by his undead familiar he will rise again as a ghoul.Skeleton: Whenever an archer skeleton's arrow fails to hit its target, the DM should make a saving throw vs. crushing blow for the arrow. If the saving throw fails the shaft simply breaks and becomes useless. If it is successful, however, the arrow remains intact and rapidly (1 round) grows into a skeleton with all the normal abilities of those undead. Zombie: Any creature that is drained to zero level by an undead cloaker or its host will return from the grave in 1d4 days as a common zombie.Zombie Sea: Those slain by a jolly roger’s touch will rise as sea zombies in 24 hours unless their bodies are blessed and then committed to the deep in a traditional burial at sea. Raise dead, resurrection, or wish will also counter this if used carefully and promptly. Anyone living who attempts to board the jolly roger’s ship must save vs. death magic or be transformed into a sea zombie.</blockquote>

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